117
by Hive Master
Summary: The Halo story from a marine's point of view. The prologue is the Master Chief's dream while he's in the Cryo-chamber.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: **This story was changed from someone else's movie script to a book form for my use here.

"I remember... I remember that day

on Eridanus Four..." whispered Catherine Halsey softly. Against a picturesque, rural landscape, children run around, and their high pitched giggles fill the air.

"It was a time when the skies were

still blue, and the grass still carried that gentle flow of a summer's breeze..."

A lonely child is slowly swinging on a set of swings. The

rungs are creaking lightly as they sway back and forth.

"It was the day we met 1-1-7, or _John _as he was called then..."

The child, John, looks onward to see a man and a woman steadily

approaching. He climbs off the swings and takes a step to meet them.

"But then _they_ came..." she quitely said with hatred. A strong gush of wind nearly knocks him over. Everything around him stops. The sun is rapidly descending to the horizon, leaving an orange tan.

The children become lifeless silhouettes -- the man and woman

including. Distant screaming and gunfire begin erupting from all around him... The scenery suddenly becomes a raging battlefield. The once serene landscape is no more.

"They came with their legions. With

their crusade..." The interspaced thuds of a marching army are heard in the distance, and silhouettes of an insidious alien army crest into view.

"They were the Covenant. Our skies

became blackened by smoke, our

fields filled with the graves of our dead..." Halsey continued. "But something else was coming. Something much more terrifying than the Covenant." John looks behind him and sees ominous clouds looming in the distance. A blue HALO of light is piercing through. The blanket of clouds roll in above John. He he turns around and sees _him_... John's future self is standing right before him at a seven-foot height, completely covered in MJOLNIR IV body-armor. His chest rises and falls to every breath. A helmet with an amber visor covers his face. He is a Spartan.

"But one will stand for mankind. Above the rest, one man will save us all..." The Spartan reaches down to knock John out of the way just as a grenade goes off where John once stood, destroying the swings.


	2. Chapter 1

A spike blipped on a console screen. Science Officer Davies

stopped rocking on his chair.

"Did you see that?" he asked as the diligent Science Officer Sam busied away with a digital pad.

"See what?" he replied.

"Thought I caught a spike there," said Davies. Sam broke away from his pad and glanced over the displays.

"Heart rate at 51 b-p-ms. Neural activity appears stable... Maybe it was a glitch." he said dismissively.

"Yeah... maybe," Sam said as he resumed his work with the digital pad. "Or maybe he was dreaming."

Davies chuckled, "You reckon they dream?" Sam stopped with the pad again, and looked at Davies.

"I don't know..." The two shared a gaze though the observation window and into the Cryo-chamber. A huge

metallic mass filled the view. Several pods extended from it, and nitrogen gas swelled at its base.

"You ever seen anything like him?" asked Davies.

"Can't say that I have," replied Sam.

Marines hustled, shifting artillery and equipment along loading ramps of Pelican drop ships-- the Hercules for space

travel. Warthogs -- jeeps with mounted guns, Screeched across the hanger floor and up the loading ramps. Sergeant

Avery Johnson overlooked all the action from a walkway.

"C'mon men, move like you've gotta purpose. The Covenant ain't gonna wait around forever," he barked to the men

below. Private Wallace Jenkins,the new trooper, lugged a crateful of ammo. A foot snagged on a cable and he spilled the shells

across the floor. Private Mendoza, a guy who lives for action, stops behind him with his own crate.

"Nice going, Idiot." he sneered. Jenkins kneeled down and attempted to shovel the loose shells back into the crate,

but many rolled back out.

"C'mon, you're holding up the line." he said as he prodded Jenkins with his boot.

"Knock it off!" replied Jenkins. Johnson peers over at them from the walkway.

"Without breaking up the fun you girls were having, can I ask you what's goin' on down there?"

"Jenkins spilled a tank of 50's," snickered Mendoza.

"You think I don't see the dang 50's on the floor?" yelled Johnson. Mendoza understood at once and attempted to

negotiate his way around Jenkins. He slipped on the loose shells and spilled his own crate across the floor.

"Oh, well done! Which grade school did the UNSC pluck you from?" said Sarge, mostly to himself.

Corporal Grace Murphy, an aspiring leader wearing a

practiced toughness, rushed into view to help Jenkins with

the shells.

"Finally, a person with a bit of initiative," sighed Johnson wearily.

"Thanks, Grace," Jenkins said.

"Don't sweat it,' she replied curtly.

A well-worked Corporal Jake Miller, the level headed

trooper, steps out of a drop-ship's loading bay. He rests

against a bulkhead and watches Grace.

"Miss Murphy, you need a mop for that?" asked the sergeant.

"I'm good, sir," she replied.

"And they said this was gonna be a holiday camp compared to the Martian colony," he saidas he walked off across the walkway.

A hand set down two glasses and filled them up with bourbon.

"You wouldn't believe the lengths I had to get to for this single barrel. One of the finest -- distilled on Earth," said a full-of-pride

Lt. Colonel Frank Langley as he picked up the glasses and took them over to Captain Jacob Keyes, an old space dog.

Behind his desk, he mulled over a digital pad. Langley sat one glass before him and proceeded to sip his own.

"I know what you are thinking -- it's disregarding the Cole Protocol," said Langley advisingly.

"I assume there's good reason," replied Keyes. Langley turned to the window to watch the streams of stars whiz by in hyperspace.

"The random hyperspace jump protocol is just a countermeasure to prevent the Covenant from finding Earth. I can assure you, Jacob,

that those coordinates will have no bearing on giving away Earth's location," assured Langley. He glanced at the untouched bourbon on Keyes' desk.

"Go ahead, try it," Langley said.

Keyes placed the pad down and picked up the glass. He gave a passing glance to Sgt. Major Jameson on a couch. Jameson carried that molded

emptiness of a disciplined soldier. Keyes downed the glass, and it hit the spot.

"Has that kick doesn't it? It's rare to get something like this. Like everything else these days, it's a depleting luxury," Langley said sadly

"Frank, my main priority is to regroup and salvage what we can from Reach," Captain Keyes said flatly.

"You saw what it was like there, planet Reach is the Covenant's now. Your ship was lucky to get out of there with minimal loss!" Langley stated

in a matter-of-fact manner.

"We can't allow our last military instillation --"

"This doesn't have anything to do with Catherine Halsey, does it?" interrupted Langley. Keyes wasn't quick to respond.

"It's not like you to let your emotions affect your judgment. Besides, you know where those orders come from," added Langley sternly. Keyes

looked at the pad on his desk.

"Oh, and I hear that one of her experiments is onboard," Langley said.

"1-1-7 was the only Spartan to make it off Reach," Keyes said sadly.

"So not even the great Spartans could protect Reach from the Covenant," Langley said quitely.

"Earth needs to be informed that our last military research facility has been breached," Keyes said commandingly.

"All in good time, Jacob," Langley muttered dismissively. He sipped his drink. A console Bleeped.

"Yes?" answered Keyes. Cortana's voice sounded through a desk intercom; she was the ship's AI -- artificial intelligence.

Captain, we're reaching the slipstream horizon for vector coordinate entry. Estimated Time of Arrival 15 minutes.

"Thank you, Cortana," Keyes said as he rose from his chair, snatched the digital pad, and headed for the door. They slide

open for him.

"We _will_ turn the tides of this war," Langley added just before Keyes was out of earshot. Keyes stopped to those words...

then continued on. The doors slid shut behind him.

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